Our History
2000
Dublin Youth Dance Company (DYDC) is initiated by JJ Formento under the supervision of Robert Connor and Loretta Yurick at the Dance Theatre of Ireland, with support from Dún Laoghaire -Rathdown County Council. Its objective is to give young people the opportunity to engage in training, creating and performing contemporary dance.
Within a year the group is invited to represent Ireland at the Merseyside Summer Festival 2000, where it presents its first dance piece, ‘Rites’.
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2001
The Company hosts the first Irish Youth Dance Festival (IYDF) at the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire, with youth dance groups from all corners of Ireland. The event is a huge success and has since become an annual festival which continues to grow in its scope and vision.
2003
Mariam Ribón is appointed Artistic Director of both Dublin Youth Dance Company and the Irish Youth Dance Festival to oversee an expanded programme of artistic and educational activities.
In that same year, the Company is granted funding from the Arts Council for the first time.
2007
DYDC participates in its first international exchange at Encuentros de Danza, Spain, beginning a rich tradition of dance at festivals and events across Europe.
2008
DYDC appears at the Noisemoves festival, the first of dozens of performances and partnerships between the Company and its national youth dance contemporaries.
2009
The Company receives a Per Cent for Art public art commission by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (dlr) County Council. Members create a dance work with transition year and school students, performed at the Pavilion Theatre.
From this project, a new Junior Company is established, offering young dancers access and opportunity to engage with contemporary dance.
2012
DYDC is awarded An Cathaoirleach’s Arts Award for the dlr County Council local authority area.
2013
The IYDF is selected for ‘Culture Connects’, the national culture programme marking Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The Company is also awarded the Creative Practitioners Award: Primary Schools 2013 – 2015 by dlr County Council.
2014
The Arts Council funds DYDC under the Young People, Children and Education Programme Activity Fund for the first time.
DYDC creates a new dance piece under commission for the opening of the dlr LexIcon in Dún Laoghaire.
2015
The Company makes its debut performance as part of Dublin Dance Festival with ‘Linear Flow’, featuring 99 young dancers performing at the Grand Canal Plaza in Dublin’s Docklands.
It also creates the film ‘Fling’ in collaboration with Director Terence White, through funding from the Arts Council’s Young Ensemble Scheme.
2016
DYDC collaborates with lens-based artist Sharon Murphy, composer Michael Gallen and voice director Andrea Ainsworth to create ‘Moving On’.
2017
DYDC is awarded Strategic Funding from the Arts Council, which “invests in and supports the essential infrastructure required to sustain and develop the arts in Ireland”.
2019
DYDC establishes three sections of its Company: Senior, Transition and Junior Ensembles.
The Company performs alongside Liz Roche Company in ‘Näher… closer, nearer, sooner’ at the Goethe-Institut Irland.
2021
The ‘Resilience Programme’ is launched in response to the Covid-19 pandemic: a series of special commissions designed to sustain the youth dance community, the dance community at large and their sense of collective creativity and commitment to quality practice.
2022
DYDC receives a Capacity Grant from the Arts Council.
DYDC premiers the 1st Winter Gala at the dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire at which their new Strategy, ‘A Time to Grow’, was launched by Maureen Kennelly, Director of the Arts Council.
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